Princess's "toilet seat" hat sells for $131,000

Reuters Staff

1 Min Read

<p>Princess Beatrice is seen arriving at Westminster Abbey before the wedding of Britain's Prince William and Kate Middleton in central London in this April 29, 2011 file photograph. REUTERS/Toby Melville/Files</p>

LONDON (Reuters) - The much-mocked hat worn by Princess Beatrice to Britain’s royal wedding last month -- widely described as looking like a toilet seat -- sold for 81,100 pounds ($131,000) on eBay, charities which will benefit from the sale said.

The money will be equally split between UNICEF and Children in Crisis, which posted the auction results on their websites.

The fuss over the hat worn to the royal wedding of her cousin Prince William to longtime girlfriend Kate Middleton seemed to have taken Beatrice -- who is the daughter of William’s uncle Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson -- by surprise.

“I’ve been amazed by the amount of attention the hat has attracted,” Beatrice said on the auction site. “I hope whoever wins the auction has as much fun with the hat as I have.”

The hat, by milliner Philip Treacy, was given a starting price of 5,000 pounds.

Treacy said he was “delighted, flattered and touched by HRH Princess’ Beatrice’s decision to donate the hat to charity.”